


pretending to pretend

by maketea



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:42:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23484766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maketea/pseuds/maketea
Summary: ladybug and chat noir practice kissing -- so they'd look more natural for the cameras, of course. why else would ladybug suggest it?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 16
Kudos: 194





	pretending to pretend

**Author's Note:**

> > **involuntarydiaphragmspasm** asked you   
> for the fic tropes: fake dating + ladynoir?  
> 

Ladybug pulled back with a disapproving sigh. "This feels all wrong."

"Thanks," he said flatly. "You're doing great, too."

Sighing again, she shook her head, fighting the habitual urge to wet her lips because, well, Chat Noir had just kissed her, and with him sitting on his knees beside her with his arms crossed, it would prove to be an awkward gesture, indeed.

Perhaps if it was a real kiss it would've been different. But it wasn't real, none of this was, so Ladybug  _ wouldn't  _ wet her lips.

"It's not that." There was a pregnant pause. Ladybug reached up to rub the back of her neck. "Should we really be doing this?"

"It was your call, My Lady," he said, not harshly. "If you don't wanna do this anymore, we don't have to. You know all I want is for you to be happy."

She lifted her eyes to share a smile with him, but he beat her to it.

Sometimes, like now, Ladybug wondered why they couldn't do this for real. 

It had been a week since one of Chat Noir's lady-fans clambered over the police tape conrdoning off a battle, adamant to profess her love to him, convinced they would make a fantastic couple. The one instance was bad enough, but the instances before that, the girls in kitty ears and paw print T-Shirts and rolled up skirts that dotted around too close to battle, were becoming unbearable.

(It wasn't only that they were risking their lives. Chat Noir was a fifteen-year-old boy, and the tiniest flash of skin could arrest his feeble attention in the worst moments. Ladybug knew. She joked about asking Tikki to give her suit a plunging neckline and he turned so red she thought he'd faint.)

He was a handsome, well-built teenager in a leather suit that had the sweetest smile, and, to everyone in Paris, was on the market.

Of course, their solution was to take him  _ off _ the market — and who better to do that than his partner?

So far, their plan had been working. Battle sites were clear, (save for a certain Alya Césaire), and Chat Noir's sanity was intact.

Ladybug's? The state of hers was questionable.

They'd kissed in public before — it was even the Ladyblog's new header — but upon looking through their pictures, they both (after a minute to wince at themselves) decided they really,  _ really _ needed to practice.

And they were getting better.

_ He _ was getting better.

And Ladybug was asking to practice more, and more, and more.

He was still smiling at her.

She wet her lips.

"No, sorry, I do want to do this." She shook her head clear of her thoughts. "Just, uh— here." Reaching over, she dropped her knees back to the roof and intertwined their fingers. "Maybe this'll make it more natural."

He considered for a moment, then nodded. "What if I do this, too?" Chat Noir cupped her cheek.

She allowed herself a moment to look into his eyes. Taste his breath. Lean her face into his palm and pretend they were really, really in love.

(Were they still pretending? Or pretending to pretend?)

"Okay," she said, suddenly breathless. "Kiss me."


End file.
